Former tour player and Olympian offers free clinicAs Long Island middle school and high school girls tennis players conclude their fall seasons and PSAL players prepare for the spring season, former Top 10 ATP Tour player and Olympic Silver medali...

Belmont news & notes• Trainer Gary Sciacca was still beaming with pride on Sunday morning after having successfully coached Saratoga Snacks from off the bench onto a three-quarter-length victory in the $250,000 Empire...

Three St. Joseph’s College atheletes honoredFor the second time this season, St. Joseph’s College student-athletes Lauren GaNun and Shannon Fahy were recognized as women’s volleyball and women’s soccer Players of the Week, while Taso Kostika...

Preseason honors for LIU guardLIU Brooklyn senior Jason Brickman was named to his second Preseason All-America team in as many weeks as he earned an honorable mention spot on NBCSports.com’s Mid-Major Preseason All-America team...

SJU basketball programs meet with the mediaThe St. John’s basketball teams held their annual on-campus Media Day last week, welcoming more than 60 reporters from both national and local media outlets to Carnesecca Arena. Women’s basketball ...

Variety hosts preseason tournamentThe Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria is hosting a preseason youth basketball tournament during October. Pictured is the 5th grade team from the Boys & Girls Club taking on St. Margaret’s of Mid...

St. Joseph’s athletes earn conference honorsRecognizing their outstanding performances on the court and in the field, middle hitter Lauren GaNun of Breezy Point was named the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) women’s ...

Grass Court Championships wrap up at West SideThe West Side Tennis Club hosted the USTA National Men’s 40’s and 60’s Grass Court Championship last week. In the 40’s singles competition, top-seeded Rick Witsken of Zionsville, Indiana, defeated#...

STJ ends non-conference play with double-OT drawThe St. John’s women’s soccer team kept visiting Dartmouth College scoreless for 110 minutes, but couldn’t find the back of the net itself despite a spirited second half effort on its way to a goal...

Breaking News

US investigators launched dawn raids Tuesday on dozens of Los Angeles locations suspected of offering "maternity tourism" services for mostly Chinese mothers wanting to give birth in the United States. The raids targeted apartment complexes in the Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga, Rowland Heights and Walnut districts outside LA where the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says foreign clients are housed. "Such businesses provide travel and lodging services to pregnant foreign nationals interested in coming to the United States to give birth so their offspring will be American citizens," ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. According to ICE, the maternity tourism businesses cater mostly to Chinese women who pay $15,000-$50,000 for the services, which can include getting social security numbers and US passports for their offspring.

By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have made an argument that many Israelis support in warning Congress on Tuesday about a potential nuclear deal with Iran, but critics asked whether it was worth the widening rift with the White House. The address was broadcast live on Israeli television and radio, and came at a politically sensitive time -- just two weeks before a closely contested election in which Netanyahu is seeking a fourth term. Israeli political commentators called it a polished performance by the U.S.-educated politician, but agreed with President Barack Obama's assessment that Netanyahu offered nothing new in his criticism of U.S.-led talks with Iran. Netanyahu could use a boost: an opinion poll released several hours before the speech gave the center-left Zionist Union 24 seats to 21 for Likud in the 120-member parliament.